ARTICLES ABOUT MEAT BY DATE - PAGE 5

Around a thousand years ago, stories of the most passionate devotees of Shiva were compiled in the Tamil work Periya Puranam. One of the stories is that of Thinnan, more popularly known as Kannappa Thinnan was a hunter. Every evening he would cook the best part of the animal he had hunted, wrap it in leaves, and carry it in his hands to a Shiva temple located on the edge of the forest. On the way, he would collect flowers for Shiva; having no basket he would just fix them in his hair.

Does anyone want to bet that one of these apparently unstoppable assaults on Indians in Australia will soon feature the victim being force fed a meat pie? It just seems so likely given this recent story of how a super-rich Indian origin couple, Pankaj and Radhika Oswal, have banned construction workers from eating meat at the site of the palatial house they are building in Perth. Not surprisingly, the story has made waves in Australia, given the importance eating meat has there, along with the ingrained Australian inclination to support underdogs, and cut down 'tall poppies', as people who stick out, like the very wealthy, are called.

Amity Innovation Incubator (AII), an e n t re p re n e u r s h i p promotion centre at Amity University, claims to have incubated 18 companies, recently. The university boasts that despite difficult investment climate for early stage companies, these 18 companies were able to receive the funding, proving that companies mentored by incubators have much higher chances of survival. The funding has been received through various funding agencies and has come at a time when most of the start ups are complaining about lack of investments . "The rigorous support and networking with prominent funding bodies across the country by the AII positioned the incubated companies with a clear business strategy and helped them to understand the ways to get funded" , said Aseem Chauhan, chief executive , Amity Innovation Incubator.

MUMBAI: Demand to scrap export subsidies for meat is gaining momentum as it's found skewing the dairy economics where killing animals is turning out to be more profitable in the short term, than milking for years. A representation in this regard was made to Sharad Pawar, the Union agriculture minister who has been at the receiving end for soaring food prices. The dairy industry, in an elaborate presentation, has explained how the subsidies help slaughterhouses and thereby impact the milk production in the country.

NEW DELHI: India's almost-indelible perch atop global milk-producing nations is showing the first signs of cracks with farmers increasingly preferring to rear livestock for meat, lured by lucrative prices and a friendly government policy. The country's average milk yield of 917 kg per annum is now ranked a lowly 35th among 44 select countries, though India continues to be the world's largest milk producer, a position it has clung to for many years. Still, there are clear signs of worry as farmers in north India, the country's top milk-producing region, are up against squeezed margins after a 90 per cent rise in fodder prices between 2006 and 2009.

NEW DELHI: It's a sector that's been beefing up the economy handsomely through the downturn.. There's been an over 100% price increase in 2008-09 compared to the value of meat three years prior. Exports from predominantly "vegetarian" India, in tandem with expensive cattlefeed and poor producer price for milk , have doubled in just four years to (projected) Rs 5000 crore+ in 2008-09. Infact, current "meaty" government policies that have made meat (poultry and meat) exports highly lucrative, and may have sparked off a silent "pink" revolution.

The threat of swine flu makes every sniffle, every sneeze seem ominous. Suddenly, the surgical mask seems to have become our badge of courage. The blame game has also begun with some groups declaring swine flu to be "God's revenge against infidels". Others counter by saying if blame is to be meted out it ought to be heaped on all of Homo sapiens as a species. More blameworthy are its profligate ways, the critics allege, particularly the reckless manner in which we are reshaping the globalised world ecology rapidly.

NEW DELHI: The government on Monday ruled out banning the export of meat and said doing so would not be in the interest of the livestock sector. "Considering the overall development of livestock sector, the government is not in favour of ban on the export of meat," Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jyotiraditya Scindia said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. Scindia said representations were received from Maharaja Kumarapal Jeevadaya Trust, Munoth House and Dhahraj Baid Jain College for imposing ban on the export of meat.

Food speaks a universal language so it is no surprise that we often guage a country by its cuisine. But just as we do that when we travel, others do it when they come to India as well. Some of the most fascinating insights , in fact, come from chefs who come to India and make it their business (and their passion) to study the market, if only for their own strategising. A recent meeting I had with one such chef in Delhi was quite a revelation to me as I found myself looking at my compatriots — and our habits — with new eyes.

"What would you like to drink? Semillon? Verdelho? Shiraz? Cabernet Sauvignon?" The dimpled Kristina was standing by my table in Sydney's Four Seasons Kable's restaurant and spewing wine delights. The teetotaler in me listened patiently; I did not want to interrupt her honeyed offering from Hunter Valley, the country's oldest wine region. "Still water. Chilled," I said with a poker face, presuming I had settled the drink order for the night. "Water? Which one?" Kristina dimpled again.